


Artist's Rendering

by Kona



Series: To Court a Maiden Fair [1]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Getting to Know Each Other, I mean he is a rogue so, In which Cassandra realizes that Alden has really good hands, Light Pining, Teasing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-07
Updated: 2016-07-07
Packaged: 2018-07-22 03:34:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,850
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7418194
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kona/pseuds/Kona
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alden Trevelyan is very good with his hands. It's a rogue thing. And an artist thing.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Artist's Rendering

**Author's Note:**

> I love my dumb rogue M!quiz. Him and Cass make me happy. So have some more fluff.

Cassandra found Alden Trevelyan in the garden of Skyhold, with a small handcrafted bound book of paper on his knee and a piece of charcoal in hand. She had had the intention of storming up and reminding him that he was due to meet with the scouting party heading to the Emprise this afternoon, but stopped short when she saw the small smile on his face as he carefully scratched the charcoal against the page. She had not seen the young man so at peace since before the battle for Haven. She didn’t want to ruin the moment.

But he was perceptive as always, and after a moment of her standing there torn in indecision, he turned his head to face her. His grin grew as he realizes who it was. 

“Cassandra!” He beckoned for her to join in in the gazebo on the steps, “I thought it was you. I figured it might be your footsteps.” He beamed up at her as she sat, “What’s the matter?”

Cassandra fought the urge to grumble at being caught staring, but sat a foot away from the young noble. “You are meant to be meeting with Scout Harding and the rest of the scouting party soon, Inquisitor.” She explained, and watched as he groans and tilted his head back in realization.

“Maker, I’d totally forgotten about that. I got carried away here.” He grumbled, running the hand that wasn’t holding the charcoal through his hair, knotting his hand in the front, “I’m sorry, Cassandra.”

“You are not late yet. There is time yet to make the meeting before they leave for the Emprise.” Cassandra soothed, placing a hand on his shoulder. He relaxed in an instant into the touch, and shot a grateful smile Cassandra’s way and let the hand in his hair fall back to his lap. Cassandra frowned, “You should not berate yourself too much. You are in high demand. A little relaxation never hurt anyone.” 

Trevelyan burst out laughing at that, and this time Cassandra did not bother stopping the annoyed grunt that left her mouth, accompanied by a low blush and a shove of the shoulder she had been holding. Trevelyan had the good sense to shake his head, “I’m sorry, truly. It’s just, hearing that from _you_ is just too much.” 

“I-I do not work all the time!”

“Says the woman whose family’s honor seems to have been gravely insulted by the practice dummies,” Trevelyan’s eyes glinted with amusement, his face bright with laughter. “But you’re correct. Josie and Cullen are the ones I’m more likely to find asleep over their desks at the crack of dawn.” 

“ _Ugh_.”

“I don’t mean any offense by it, Cassandra, truly.” Trevelyan assured, his eyes earnest as he gazed at the older woman. For a moment Cassandra was struck by how much younger than her this boy was. She was ten years his senior at least. His face still held traces of the boyish charm that all young men possessed in the nobility. He wore it well, even as it faded into the harder edges of adulthood. His jaw was more defined than it had been in Haven, his cheeks sharper. He’d grown into his role of being Inquisitor nicely. But even so, Cassandra still found herself noticing how young he truly was.  

“I am aware. What _were_ you doing, that diverted your attention?” Cassandra switched topics at that, shaking her head clear of those thoughts.  

Trevelyan grinned sheepishly at that, “Ah. Well, my sister-in-law sent me a letter recently with some sketches she drew of the garden our family has back at Ostwick-so I thought I might send her some sketches of the garden here.” he moved his hands away from the page he was drawing on and revealed a likeness of the fountain in the middle of the garden, along with the herb garden tucked in the corner, carefully shaded and rendered. 

“I was not aware you drew.” 

“Not many people are,” his smile turned amused, “I took it up because of my sister-in-law actually. She was rather weak when carrying her and my eldest brother’s first child. Because my brother was a knight he was often away during the pregnancy, and with the twins both at the Tower it was up to me to look after her,” his finger toyed with the edge of the page, “She took to drawing the flowers and herbs as we gardened together. I took it up as well, with her as my teacher.”

“She taught you well, these are wonderfully done,” Cassandra murmured, eyes taking in the detail of the sketches.

Trevelyan chuckled again, “Thank you. I wasn’t this good at first. I used to have no concept of depth. It’s only through years of working that I’ve gotten to this point. She’s still far better than I am,” he frowns slightly, toying with the charcoal in his hands, “I haven’t had much time to draw lately, that I must have gotten caught up in it.” 

“It is good to have a hobby that is outside of your work. We all get so busy that we rarely allow ourselves the simple pleasures.” 

Trevelyan tilted his head, the smile returning to his face, “And what hobby do you indulge in, Lady Seeker?” 

Cassandra felt heat rise in her face at the thought of the last volume of _Swords and Shields_ tucked under her pillow in her bedchambers, and opened her mouth to snap, but closed it just as quickly. Trevelyan cocked an eyebrow at her and she grunted, “Reading. I enjoy reading.” 

“Oh?” Trevelyan’s face brightened, edging closer, “Which genre?”

“...Nothing you would be interested in, I’m sure.” 

“You assume, Cassandra, and it wounds me,” Trevelyan laid a hand over his heart, eyes twinkling, “I’d like anything you read, I’m sure of it.” He replied in earnest.

Cassandra had to fight the grin that wanted to break through at his enthusiasm. It was far too affecting, his smile and the way he gave one his whole attention. It was dangerous. She gave the man a slight shove, marveling at the loud laugh that came after, despite her cheeks flushing. 

“That bad? Now I’m going to have to assume it’s something torrid and raunchy.”

“I- _Hardly_.” Cassandra huffed, and her face flushed further at the blatant lie, “I enjoy some romance serials. That is all.”

To his credit, Alden doesn’t burst out laughing once more. Instead the corners of his eyes crinkle in a smile and he beams at her, “It suits you. Being a Seeker in inherently the most romantic of the different branches of the Chantry. I’d be surprised if you were into something like Hard in Hightown.”

Cassandra managed to keep her face neutral as possible when Varric’s name was mentioned, but she still did turn her eyes back to the drawing in Alden’s hands instead. “Still, I’m sure that your skills can be put to use. Perhaps when we head to the Emprise ourselves after the scouts you can draw some likenesses of the objects and areas Leliana and Cullen are looking for. Maker knows anything is better than some of the sketches we have seen from Bull or Dorian.”

Alden beamed at Cassandra and she found herself blushing for an entirely different reason. She knew the young man had been attempting to court her, but this was the first time she found herself worrying that perhaps…

“Thank you, Cassandra. Alden stood up at that and handed her the stack of bound papers he had been drawing, “I think that would be an excellent. Hopefuly it won’t hurt Dorian’s pride too much. If you could just hold onto these for a few minutes while I go talk to the scouts we can continue talking after. I’m rather enjoying it.”  
  
Cassandra attempted to sputter out a response, but the young rogue was gone before she could even get a word out. She was left alone in the garden holding his artwork, opening and closing her mouth like a fish. She grunted in annoyance before looking at the papers in her hands. Very carefully she peeled the first paper away to look at the ones beneath it.

The second paper was full of renderings of the horses and harts in the stables with a note at the bottom reading ‘For Dear Annie and Holden, who I know were begging to know about my stables.’ Cassandra smiled as she recognized the names of his niece and nephew-the ones he always spoke of so fondly. 

Under that on the third were small portraits of some of Alden’s Inner Circle. Under Varric’s roguish grin was written ‘yes THE Varric Tethras’ and under Dorian’s smirk ‘He uses more hair product than our whole household.’ Vivienne’s arch look and high chin were intimidating from even the page ‘Madame De Fer is just as strong as her name implies’. It looked as though he had begun to draw Josephine at her desk, and Cullen on the ramparts, but had only gotten halfway through them before moving onto something else. Cassandra had to tamp down the small feeling of disappointment that she was not referenced on this sheet with so many of Alden’s compatriots. She would have assumed… 

But when she turned to the final paper she sucked in a deep breath and had to stop herself from clenching too tightly to the parchment lest she ruin it. 

Her face, her sword, her warrior’s stance. All of them were immortalized on the page. Alden had drawn a strikingly realistic piece of her fighting a practice dummy. There was another of her face in profile, surveying something. Another of her laughing quietly, underneath which was the note ‘I finally got her to laugh at one of my jokes. I’m getting somewhere.’ 

Cassandra’s whole face felt flushed, and it was as if her heart were pounding in her head her ears thudded with the sound. It was as if he had been conjured out of one of her books. She’d never been a woman to flatter herself with beauty. She was a warrior before anything else. Romantic inclinations aside, she never approached the idea of beauty very seriously. Still-in these drawings-it was very clear that to Alden she was beautiful. Even when she was fighting, since it seemed as though every other small sketch were of her with sword in hand, or shield in lap. 

It was overwhelming, and she had to resist the urge to tear the page up and demand he stop. But she remembered that quiet smile as he focused on the page, and the gentle sweep of that oh so dexterous hand, and she bit her lip. She couldn’t make him stop when was one of the small joys he was afforded. She placed all the drawings back in their original order and placed them on the stone next to her. She needed to calm down so that when he returned she would not give herself away. But…  
  
Before that, she couldn’t help the grin that came to her face, and the small giggle that accompanied it.


End file.
